I know I've neglected you...like REALLY neglected you and I'm sorry. 2015 was a chaotic year, full of a lot of ups and downs and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and needed a break. It was me, not you. But this year I'm determined to have a great year and one of my resolutions is to get back into cooking and blogging. So be ready! ☺

First thing on my To Do List is: getting over this frickin' cold/sinus infection. It's hard to be awesome when you're all stuffed up and your head feels like it wants to explode. Not to mention, I sound like a cross between Darth Vader and Girl 6 with my heavy breathing and raspy voice. It seems like everyone is down with this creeping crud...and this stuff apparently likes to lingers. I've already missed two days of work because of it and I'm pretty sure my office is one step away from going all Outbreak. There's a lot of people out with a cold, flu, or bronchitis.

I've been doing all the things I'm supposed to: hydrating, staying in bed, sleeping a ton, Purelling the sh*t out of everything, and using Puffs Plus Lotion (trust me, these are the holy grail of tissues). Peppy loves having me home and has been sleeping as much as I have. This weather has been pretty conducive for it. We even watched a great movie the other night, "Love and Mercy".

I've also been eating a LOT of soup. A friend of mine made me a delicious Lemon Orzo with Chicken soup that I'm going to have to get the recipe for so I can make more. It felt insanely good on my sore throat. In the meantime, this is one of my current favs to make when I'm feeling under the weather:

Red Lentil Coconut Soup

Ingredients

2 cups red lentils, uncooked

1 white onion,chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 fresh jalapeno, finely chopped, including seeds

1 tablespoon fresh peeled and minced ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon curry powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of smoked paprika

2 teaspoons salt

⅓ cup tomato paste

7 cups vegetable broth

1 can unsweetened light coconut milk

1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish (optional)

lime wedges for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, red bell pepper, and jalapeno and saute until the vegetables have softened and the onion takes on a translucent color.